Proclaiming the finished work of Jesus Christ

Month: December 2014

We are getting to the time of year when we will read and hear a flurry of prophecies about God doing a new thing in this new season, about God opening up Heaven and pouring out His Spirit on this part of the world or that part of the world, about God sending revival in this new time of more anointing in this new season of more.

God is not about to do a new thing; He has done “His thing”.

He sent Jesus, then sent the Holy Spirit and has given us His Word; as I said, He has done “His thing”.

Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, and His work is finished (Hebrews 10 v 12).

God is not about to open up Heaven and pour out His Spirit; He has already opened up Heaven and poured out His Spirit at Pentecost and according to my Bible He has not gone back yet, so He cannot be poured out again.

I used to wonder why God would pour out His Spirit on one part of the world and not on another. Was it to do with how good one part of the world was in comparison to another? Was it to do with how good His church was?

Now I know that this is not the case (through rightly dividing the Bible); God has already poured out His Spirit on the whole world, and if He had not He would not pour out on one part and withhold from the rest as he has no favourites, He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10 v 34).

If you trust in Jesus, have the indwelling Holy Spirit and have His Bible you have all that you need from God already; the rest is now up to you!

You already have all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1 v 3) and all you need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1 v 3).

You have all the revival you need already inside you (the Holy Spirit) or in your hand (the Bible).

This type of prophetic words increase the passivity of the church; we are always waiting for God to do a new thing, always waiting for a new season, always waiting for a fresh anointing, always waiting for more, more, more.

If this is indeed a new time or new season, it should be a new time or new season for the church to realise what it already has through the finished work of Jesus Christ.

It should be a new season of stopping waiting for God to do more.

It should be a new time of realisation of the power and authority that we already have from Jesus and through His indwelling Holy Spirit.

It should be a new season of understanding the importance of His Inspired and Holy Written Word, and a new time of rightly diving the Scriptures.

It is not a new season for God to move and do a new thing!

Speak tis out today…..”Thank you Lord for the finished work of Jesus Christ, thank you that you have already poured out your Spirit, and than you for the Bible”.

John 19 v 30…..When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished, and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost

As you probably know I love old covenant typology, knowing that these types and shadows point to Jesus and His finished work.

One of my favourite pieces of old covenant typology is from the first chapter of John when Jesus is baptised (and before you ask, most of the Gospels is under the old covenant).

John saw Jesus prior to His baptism and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world” (John 1 v 29).

After the baptism of Jesus, John said, “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1 v 36).

Why the difference, why no mention of sin after His baptism?

Water baptism is symbolic of our salvation experience, but also symbolic of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

We have seen from recent DIGs ( Dec 11th, 12th, 13th and 25th) that Jesus was born as our sacrificial lamb (1 Peter 1 v 19).

He was born to deal with the sin of us all (Matthew 1 v 21).

When Jesus died on the cross He dealt with all sin for all people for all time; He finished the sin issue in the eyes of Father God.

After Jesus died sin was no longer an issue for God.

So sin was an issue before His death but not an issue after His death.

Hence the typology of the baptism of Jesus is all about the sin issue; before His baptism John spoke about sin, but he did not after the baptism as he was telling us that it would not be an issue after the death of Jesus.

This is a wonderful piece of typology, a great picture about the work of Jesus.

He came to die to remove the barrier of sin, and once He had died, was buried and resurrected (remember this is what His baptism is pointing towards) sin was no longer a problem for God.

So John does not say anything about sin after His baptism, wonderful!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you for the finished work of Jesus Christ, and thank you that the barrier of sin between me and God has been removed”.

John 1 v 36…..And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God

Many people have given up on church, on meeting together with other believers.

Can I be really blunt and say that I think this attitude is a selfish one?

You may not feel that you can be encouraged or learn from others (which if I can again be blunt, that is not true) but you are also missing out on the opportunity to help encourage and teach others.

People speaking with me at church inspired my last two DIGs; and if they had not come to church I would have missed out on some really encouragement and also what I would classify as good teaching.

They built on my sermon that day and really encouraged me; they added something extra that I had not thought about.

Also at church that same day another believer encourage me by saying that 2 Timothy 3 v 14 had been speaking to her, reminding her that being under my teaching at MGF was the place for her to be.

If she had not come to church I would not have had that real piece of encouragement.

I hope that these three friends were encouraged in return by my message, by the worship, by communion and by fellowship.

The point I am trying to make is that church (the gathering together of believers) is a place of encouragement and teaching, and these are to be given as well as received.

Go to church (or have fellowship with a group of like minded believers) and be encouraged and be an encouragement, be taught and do some teaching.

The Christian life was not meant to be lived in isolation, that is why God inspired Hebrews 10 v 24 and 25 and also why He instigated the church.

Please don’t tell me that there are no good churches or decent fellowships; that is just not true.

I admit, that any fellowship or church that you find will not be perfect, there will always be something that you could find wrong with it.

But please believe me when I tell you that the encouragement and teaching that you could potentially find would be worth looking past the “bad stuff”.

And you could also be the encouragement and/or teacher that other believers really need.

Make a resolution for 2015 (if you have not already done so); decide to make a real difference to the fellowship that you are in, and if not in fellowship, decide to find one!

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the encouragement and teaching that I can find in the church”.

Hebrews 10 v 24 and 25…..And let us consider to provoke one another unto love and good works: Not forsaking the assembling together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much more, as ye see the day approaching

If you have been reading my DIGs for a while or listened to some of my Christmas sermons you will know that I believe that Jesus was not born in a stable by an inn, but in Migdal Eder, the place near Bethlehem where the temple sacrificial lambs were born.

The place of His birth pointed to His death, pointed to the fact that He was born to die as a sacrificial lamb (1 Peter 1 v 19).

A brother told me to read up about how they treated lambs when they were first born, telling me it fitted in with my theory about His birth.

So I read some articles about this and it is very exciting.

According to the Mishnah (an early Jewish “commentary” noting down oral traditions of the Jewish faith) the sacrificial lambs were wrapped in swaddling cloths immediately after their birth.

This was to protect them and keep them safe, so that they could be presented to the temple without spot or blemish.

The shepherds who first saw Jesus were the temple shepherds and the typology of these circumstances would not have been lost on them.

They were told that Jesus was the Christ, that He was the Lord, and that He had come to be their Saviour (Luke 2 v 11).

They were also told that there would be a sign for them, with the sign being Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes.

Finding Jesus born in the same place as the sacrificial lambs, wrapped up in swaddling clothes like a sacrificial lamb and lying in a manger like a sacrificial lamb could have only pointed to one thing; that Jesus was born to be a sacrificial lamb.

He was born to die for the sins of the people, but we know that He would only do this once, for all sins forever (Hebrews 10 v 12 and 14).

Jesus was THE sacrificial lamb, and He was our sacrificial lamb.

The place and manner of His birth clearly points to this.

He came to save the people (all people if they trust in His finished work) from their sins; He came to bring reconciliation and forgiveness.

He did this by shedding His blood and dying on the cross (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 14).

The other sacrificial lambs could only cover sin but Jesus as THE sacrificial lamb dealt with it once and for all, and I believe that the temple shepherds were the firs people to recognise this.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that Jesus was my sacrificial lamb, ad thank you that all my sin has been dealt with”.

Luke 2 v 7…..And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn